R.I.P. Don Medford

Prolific television director Don Medford, who is perhaps best known for the two-episode finale of the 1960s drama The Fugitive, died December 12 at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 95. His family reported the death Wednesday. The 1967 conclusion of Fugitive, the popular series about a man falsely accused of murdering his wife (played by David Janssen) and relentlessly pursued around the country by a determined detective (Barry Morse), was seen by a then-record of an estimated 78 million viewers — a milestone that stood until the “Who Shot J.R.” episode of Dallas drew an estimated 83 million in 1980. Medford’s TV career stretched from the early 1950s Tales Of Tomorrow through the late ’80s Jake And The Fatman. Among the many major and varied series he worked on were the anthologies Alfred Hitchock Presents and The Twilight Zone, The Untouchables with Robert Stack, M Squad with Lee Marvin, The Rifleman with Chuck Connors, Dr. Kildare with Richard Chamberlain and Raymond Massey, The Invaders with Roy Thinnes, The Fall Guy with Lee Majors, Baretta with Robert Blake, plus numerous episodes of 12 O’Clock High, The FBI, Dynasty and a handful of episodes of its spinoff The Colbys. Medford also directed a handful of TV movies and the features The Organization with Sidney Poitier (the second sequel to In The Heat Of The Night) and The Hunting Party, a gritty Western that starred Oliver Reed, Gene Hackman and Candice Bergen.

4 Comments

Graham Hill • on Jan 3, 2013 12:23 am

DON MEDFORD was indeed, a very prolific TV director throughout my childhood certainly. I kept seeing his name come up, even in England, whilst watching all those classic shows of the 1960’s. THE FUGITIVE has to be his high point, the series finale was so hastily put together after Janssen decided to end it, Medford did a good job of making it so memorable. He was one of producer Quinn Martin’s favourite directors.

To reach the age of 95 is quite something. RIP Don,your name will keep getting noticed, for many more years to come!

Truth • on Jan 3, 2013 12:23 am

Great guy. Will be missed.

WRTRPROD7 • on Jan 3, 2013 12:23 am

He directed some of childhood favorites! His work will be remembered

J.A.C. Castillo • on Jan 3, 2013 12:23 am

Ever since I saw “The Hunting Party” I’ve read whatever was available about that movie and its director, Don Medford.

Medford cut his teeth on Live TV in the early 50’s, including “Tales of Tomorrow” where he directed a startling episode titled “The Window” (you can watch a kinescope of it in You Tube) and went on to an impressive career, including the above-mentioned “The Fugitive” two-part finale.

What intrigues me is this: How a man like him end up in Spain directing a western in Almeria with a cast of stars (Candice Bergen and Oliver Reed), stars-to-be (Gene Hackman), and truly good character actors (Simon Oakland, Mitchell Ryan, L.Q. Jones, G.D Spradlin, and William Watson) in a production partly financed by the U.K and using a mostly British and Spanish crew. He was apparently trusted by United Artists and Levy-Gardner-Laven to efficiently bring it on time and on budget (they were also the co-producers, along with UA, of “The Fugitive”). And what happened to the movie during its time of conception, production and release? From what I know it had a rather long gestation period (Rod Steiger was initially attached to and planned to star in it with then-wife Claire Bloom). When “The Hunting Party” finally came out in July 1971 it met with relentlessly derisive press (including Variety, which ended its review with the sentence, “Seldom has so much fake blood been splattered for so little reason.”) When I saw it I was certainly shocked by the violence, which was blunt and mean. But was even more shocked by noticing that whole sequences seemed to be missing, as if the projectionist had skipped a couple of reels. After this movie and “The Organization”, a mildly entertaining Virgil Tibbs programmer, Medford went back to television. He never directed another feature film.

Could someone out there who knows something about the production of “The Hunting Party” come out and inform us about all this? It would be extremely helpful, not only to understand how movies during that period were made, but also to know more about that talented, still-mysterious man whose name was Don Medford.